Carpet stretching devices are universally used by commercial carpet installers to assure a wrinkle and fold free contact between the carpet, its cushioning pad and the underlying flooring. One such carpet stretching device includes a rectangular head assembly having a plurality of rows of parallel, forwardly angled pins that extend through the carpet matting and grip against the jute backing. One end of a plurality of telescoping sections is pivotally connected to this head with a pivotal L-shaped foot on the other end of the telescoping sections that reacts against a flat surface such as one wall in the area being carpeted. A hand operated toggle linkage is provided between the telescoping sections adjacent the head to provide the necessary leverage for moving the head horizontally forwardly and driving the carpet away from the wall against which the foot reacts. As the carpet is stretched away from the reacting wall, the installer conventionally adds additional telescoping sections as necessary to stretch the carpet entirely across the carpeting area.
It is not uncommon for the installer to add enough rod sections so that the head projects twenty or thirty feet away from the reacting wall. The problem presented by this procedure, apart from requiring a great many telescopic rod sections, is that the telescopic rod sections begin to bend, snake and sway because of their undue length which reduces greatly the effectiveness of the stretching forces. In order to overcome this problem an installer might attempt to place the flat wall foot on the end of the telescopic sections against an abutment other than a wall, such as a door jam, but in such cases it frequently happens that the foot will slide off of the abutment disrupting the carpet laying operation, and in some cases because of the high reaction forces against the foot, causing injury to personnel in the carpet installing area.
It is a primary object of the present invention to ameliorate the problems noted above in the wall reaction type telescopic rod carpet stretching devices.